Since 2001, we here at Light in the Attic have focused on releasing archival recordings from the 20th century. We’re often asked about the labels we look up to, and who or what inspires us. Visionaries who took chances and created their own path are the answer. We wouldn’t be here without the foundation set by people like Moses Asch of Folkways, Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman of Sub Pop, or Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton of Stax. Folkways is a catalog that we often return to. There’s nothing like it. A beautiful well of endless discovery.

Thanks goes to Michael Hurley and his album First Songs, originally released by Folkways in 1964. That album opened a door for us, and it’s remained open ever since. First Songs led us, like countless others, to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, which had everything we ever wanted all wrapped up together in that beautiful red box. There was Henry Thomas, the Carter Family, Charlie Poole, and so much more.

A decent portion of this playlist comes from the Anthology with other songs sprinkled in that easily could’ve been a part of the box set, to help provide a full scope of the period when music may have been perfect. The playlist wraps up with Michael Hurley, because it felt incomplete without him.